You could, of course, pay a few dollars at your nearest coffee chain to buy yourself a triangle scone wedge of your choice. But for about the same amount of money in ingredients and for not much more time than it would take to drag yourself away from your computer and down to the aforementioned coffee chain, you can bake yourself and anyone lucky enough to be headed over to your house an entire batch of delicious scones. Of course, if you choose this route, you have additional choices. Do you make a large scone cake that you can cut up into individual servings? Do you use a scoop to make individual rounded scones? It’s completely up to you. You could even, with only slightly more effort, make several kinds of scones out of a single batch—just mix the main ingredients first, then mix your individual flavoring choices into the main ingredients in separate bowls.

Ingredients

3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk

1/2 cup (115g) butter, softened and cut into small pieces

2 eggs

2 1/2-3 cups (315 to 375g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup (168g) chocolate mint chips

Steps

1

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Mix all dry ingredients together except for the chips.

2

Cream the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together until fluffy. Alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk to the creamed butter/sugar/egg mixture until everything is evenly distributed.

3

Mix in the chocolate mint chips.

4

If using a scoop, place mounds on an ungreased cookie sheet. If using a pan, smooth the mixture into the pan until it is evenly distributed.

5

Bake in a 350ºF/180ºC oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops of the scones are lightly browned and a toothpick, once inserted, comes out clean.

Tips

You could of course use lemon zest and cranberries, or currants, or raisins, or orange zest; the variations are only limited by your imagination.

These are best eaten while still warm from the oven. If you do keep them longer than that, they’re best if you reheat them slightly before eating. They’re warm and fairly fluffy, not cake-like, like some scones can be.